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Readers' Most Anticipated Books of October
At the beginning of each calendar month, Goodreads’ crack editorial squad assembles a list of the hottest and most popular new books hitting shelves, actual and virtual. The list is generated by readers’ early reviews and by tracking which titles are being added to Want to Read shelves by Goodreads regulars.
New in October: Alix E. Harrow spins a contemporary gothic fairy tale with Starling House. Tananarive Due unearths horrors both supernatural and historical with The Reformatory. And John Grisham returns to his legal thriller roots with The Exchange: After the Firm. Also new this month: Rastafarian memoirs, cryptocurrency scandals, and Britney Spears.
Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments section.
The Best Books of October:
Novelist and national treasure Jesmyn Ward is back this autumn with her first new fiction since 2017’s Sing, Unburied, Sing. Set just before the Civil War, Let Us Descend follows the fate of Annis, an enslaved girl who transcends her circumstances through visions of a world beyond our own, filled with magic, spirits, and hope. Bonus trivia: Ward is the only woman, and the only African American, to win the National Book Award for Fiction twice.
Based on actual events, Tan Twan Eng’s ambitious new novel is set in the Straits Settlements of Southeast Asia, circa 1921. Looking for literary inspiration, British novelist Somerset Maugham visits old friends Robert and Lesley Hamlyn—and finds the story of a lifetime. An epic saga of shady relationships and Chinese revolutionaries, The House of Doors ponders the ultimate nature of love, exploring complex issues of race, gender, sexuality, and storytelling.
Another story about the complexities of lifelong friendships, Family Meal moves the action to modern-day Houston, where two young men hope to resolve a long estrangement. After losing the love of his life, Cam returns to his hometown and reconnects with former best friend TJ. Wounds are reopened and secrets are revealed. Can these two save each other? Author Bryan Washington (Memorial) asks some interesting questions about queerness, loss, grief, and chosen families.
From a tourism standpoint, the name Death Valley is a marketing nightmare. But that doesn’t stop the unnamed narrator of Melissa Broder’s dark and funny new novel. Retreating to the California high desert in search of respite, she instead finds a colossal cactus with a gash in its side that looks a lot like a door to another universe. Incorporating elements of magical realism, Broder offers up a kind of existential fever dream for the 21st century.
Just like it says on the label, this new legal thriller from genre overlord John Grisham serves as the official sequel to his famous 1991 breakthrough novel, The Firm. Fifteen years after the conclusion of the original novel, Mitch McDeere finds himself in big-time trouble when a favor to an old mentor goes wrong. What starts as an errand in New York turns into a trip to Libya—and a crisis with worldwide implications.
In small-town Kentucky, a young woman named Opal finds herself inexplicably drawn to the Starling House, a sinister locus at the crossroads of the waking world and a nightmare realm known as the Underland. Aficionados of the classic haunted house story should enjoy this new adventure from Alix E. Harrow (The Ten Thousand Doors of January), which is being billed as a contemporary gothic fairy tale about small-town secrets.
Renowned Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair digs deep with this candid memoir about growing up in a rigid Rastafarian household. Sinclair’s musician father worried that Western influences, which the Rastas call Babylon, would corrupt her and her sisters. But the oppressive patriarchy of Rastafarian tradition presents its own problems. Sinclair’s memoir is being compared to books like Educated and Born a Crime, and early readers are loving the beautiful writing in this one.
One of the most highly anticipated books of the year, Going Infinite is the latest piece of book-length investigative journalism from superstar author Michael Lewis (The Big Short). The subject this time around: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency kingpin currently jailed and awaiting charges on fraud and money laundering. Author Lewis was in the middle of writing the book when Bankman-Fried was arrested, and advance word suggests that the author has some explosive details.
This hugely hyped memoir from pop diva Britney Spears focuses on the 2021 court case to terminate her conservatorship. The book expands out and back from there, covering her personal and professional life as the Princess of Pop. Details are scarce, but Spears released an online audio message in July about finally telling her story, her way: “I’ve had tons of opportunities…but I’m here to open myself to others and shed a light on it.”
From the author of the literary spy novel sensation The Sympathizer, this cerebral memoir takes an ambitious approach to the format, folding in extended essays about the nature of memory, the history of colonization, and some insightful opinions about American priorities. Born in Vietnam and raised in California, Viet Thanh Nguyen brings a unique insider/outsider perspective to the traditional autobiography.
In the Southern gothic environs of Bottom Springs, Louisiana, people believe in God. And the Devil. And a vampiric entity known as the Low Man, who punishes sinners at the midnight hour of moonless nights. When a skull is found in the local swamp, it’s up to librarian Ruth Cornier to investigate the town’s dark secrets. The latest from author Ashley Winstead (The Last Housewife) is recommended for fans of Verity and A Flicker in the Dark.
Set in Florida during the Jim Crow era, this new tale from speculative fiction veteran Tananarive Due follows the story of 12-year-old Robbie Stephens Jr. Sentenced to six months in a segregated juvenile facility, Robbie witnesses the abuse that Black children endure for their “crimes.” But Robbie sees other things, too: ghosts (or “haints”) that tell of even worse atrocities from the not-so-distant past. Due’s novel is based in part on the real-world horrors of the Dozier School for Boys.
Author Melinda Taub provides a witchy reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice with The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch. Told from the perspective of the youngest Bennet sister—that would be Lydia—the book retains the original’s broad outlines. But there’s weirdness just underneath. For instance, Lydia’s beloved sister Kitty is a barn cat. Mr. Wickham is a demon. And the delectable Mr. Darcy—well, he’s a little uptight about witchcraft, turns out.
The first in a new series from Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments), the high-fantasy adventure Sword Catcher introduces readers to the city-state of Castellane, where the rich get richer and the poor get the usual treatment. Orphaned Kel, for instance, is raised to be a “sword catcher”—a body double for the royal heir, should assassins get any ideas. Kel’s friend Lin is one of the Ashkar, an oppressed group of magic wielders. The two outcasts stumble into trouble when they cross the underworld boss known as the Ragpicker King.
Author Jean Kwok (Girl in Translation) returns with a bold new novel that’s being described as a poignant family drama wrapped in an atmospheric mystery. Two young mothers in New York City—one born to privilege and the other a desperate immigrant—find common cause when they search for a daughter taken away by China’s former One Child policy. Separated by circumstance and culture, the women nevertheless find themselves deeply bonded by older and stronger instincts.
Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!
Check out more October book coverage here:
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Susan
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Sep 28, 2023 06:22AM
I’m looking forward to Alix E. Harrows new book, Starling House. I love her writing. Also The Witches at the End of the World by Chelsea Iversen and The Herbalist’s Secret by Annabelle Marx.
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I ordered The Unmaking of June Farrow from Book of Month and waiting to see which free prime early ereads will be this month, find out Sunday…
Death Valley! My first Broder, and it was great!
Going Infinite and Sword Catcher look interesting, also can't wait to read the Fourth Wing series with Iron Flame coming out in November.
I’m looking forward to reading John Grisham The Exchange
Captivated with the descriptions of How to Say Babylon and A Man of Two Faces. I’m excited to read them both!
These books sound so interesting reading is one of my hobbies and discovered in 2020
Best cover goes to Starling House by Alix E. Harrow!
I am really looking forward to reading Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare! I loved her Shadowhunter book series!!
Once And Future Witches by Alix E Harrow is my book of the year so very excited to read her new book!
Going Infinite & Midnight is the Darkest Hour… So excited for a new Ashley Winstead!
bookishgrace wrote: "I am really looking forward to reading Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare! I loved her Shadowhunter book series!!"I love them too. But I have got that far in the series. I’m still in the middle of the Mortal Instruments books. How many of them are there?
I haven't read any Jessamyn Ward, so that's on the top of my list!
